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drachma

[ drak-muh, drahk- ]

noun

, plural drach·mas, drach·mae [drak, -mee, drahk, -].
  1. a cupronickel coin and monetary unit of modern Greece until the euro was adopted, equal to 100 lepta. : dr., drch.
  2. the principal silver coin of ancient Greece.
  3. a small unit of weight in ancient Greece, approximately equivalent to the U.S. and British apothecaries' dram.
  4. any of various modern weights, especially a dram.


drachma

/ ˈdrækmə /

noun

  1. the former standard monetary unit of Greece, divided into 100 lepta; replaced by the euro in 2002
  2. another name for dram
  3. a silver coin of ancient Greece
  4. a unit of weight in ancient Greece
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Other Words From

  • drachmal adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of drachma1

1520–30; < Latin < Greek drachmḗ, probably equivalent to drach- base of drássesthai to grasp + -mē noun suffix (hence literally, handful)
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Word History and Origins

Origin of drachma1

C16: from Latin, from Greek drakhmē a handful, from drassesthai to seize
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Example Sentences

On the coach’s nightstand sat a bowl of water, a stack of golden drachmas, a flashlight, and a glass prism for making rainbows.

Zeno was a merchant who lost all of his goods in a shipwreck and arrived in Athens with a few drachmas in his pockets.

From Salon

But Mark Antony’s stirring rhetoric, and his promise of a Caesar dividend, “75 drachmas”, immediately turn their allegiance.

Women - who often spoke no Greek - would cover their mouths with their headscarves to muffle their speech, but Mr Fokas's mother was arrested and fined 250 drachmas, a big sum back then.

From BBC

Still, Greece craved Europe’s political and financial stability, having struggled with its erratic drachma currency and with political instability.

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